A Promising Investment
by Shializaro
Summary: A young Hermione takes an interest in finance. The world is tilted sideways.
1. A Story Begins

**A Story Begins**

* * *

Dan liked to invest. Casually. It was a great side income and with both him and his wife being dentists they could afford occasional losses. Yet it didn't hurt to stay updated. That's why Dan often bought finance journals, to the point where you could walk through their house and you were almost guaranteed to stumble upon at least two different copies of Finance Weekly. They cluttered coffee tables and took over an entire shelf in his home study, much to the complaints of his wife. Still, he continued. You should know where your money's going, after all.

Hermione was an exceptionally bright girl. At the tender age of three, she had already moved on from thin books with big pictures and only the occasional word thrown in, to something a little more challenging. And when she had, in her second year of primary school, found that she had devoured pretty much everything under six-hundred pages in the house, there weren't a lot of options left over. So, lonely and bored out of her mind, she picked up the next shiny, glossy magazine she found on the kitchen table.

In another world, that magazine had contained a lot of differently-colored cars and women in clothing that simply couldn't be comfortable. This would have led to several awkward questions being asked over the next couple weeks, culminating in a lecture over gender roles, sexism and feminism by her mother, who felt strongly about these issues. In the end, Hermione would have come out of the affair with a newly-won sense of what was right and what was wrong. Her burning will to fight against these injustices and prove all those who believed in them wrong would have shaped her future and that of the entire world.

In this world, Dan Granger had a different hobby.

So when a seven-year-old Hermione knocked on the door of Dan's study, clutching an outdated issue of the Economics and Finance Journal, Dan set her down on his lap and about explaining the economy to her.

Nothing is ever the same.

* * *

 _A/N: I know literally nothing about the stock market. Another thing I don't know about is pairings. We'll see who ends up with who in the end. Also, I love the idea that the reason Hermione adheres so closely to rules is that she has barely any moral compass._

 _I hope you enjoyed this first chapter._


	2. On Leaving the Nest

**On Leaving the Nest**

* * *

When, during the summer holidays, Minerva McGonagall knocked at the door of the Granger residence, Emma and Dan Granger weren't terribly surprised.

The whole "magic is real" thing had been a bit of a nasty shock at first, but after they had adjusted their world-view accordingly, a lot of things had made sense. Their little girl had always been amazingly talented, had always been special, though it seemed like they had underestimated just how special she was.

They sat through a comprehensive explanation of Hogwarts, the magical world, and the challenges they, and Hermione in particular, would face, adjusting to this new society. Wizards used a differing monetary system, they had ministries and banks, and Hermione, as a muggle-born witch, would become the emancipated "guardian" of her non-magical parents in the eyes of the Wizarding world. Muggles, Professor McGonagall explained carefully, were still, though progress had been made in the last few years, seen as unfit to entrust with decisions about magical beings, children or not.  
They would, in the eyes of the respective Wizarding institutions, simply not understand the magical world sufficiently.

Hermione's parents weren't thrilled to let their little girl leave the nest so soon, to places they could not follow and world they could not understand, but this was a part of her and they would never rob her of it. Besides, they knew Hermione could take care of herself just fine, and it wasn't like they would never see each other again.  
She was still their little girl.  
Nothing would ever change that.

And if they were quietly relieved because such things as divination and seeing the future could also fall in the realm of magic, if they breathed a little lighter now that they knew how their 11-year-old daughter could make such accurate predictions regarding their investments, present such specific forecast of their foreseeable income months in advance, well, no one brought it up.

.

For Hermione, it was the reveal of a whole new world. Literally. New people, a new society with different, though somewhat outdated money and incredibly unusual economic and administrative procedures! Hermione was captivated. So many opportunities, so many books, so many new things in a world that had almost started to look drab.

And maybe, maybe she would even find someone like her, someone to call a friend.

This was the best thing ever.

* * *

 _A/N: This is all pretty much setup, the story kicks off somewhere next chapter. Keep in mind that these chapters are not chronological so I might come back and do something more detailed about Hermione's early childhood later. Also, I'm really iffy on the 80ies and economy in general so there might be mistakes somewhere._


	3. Laying the Groundwork

**_Laying the Groundwork_**

* * *

Minerva McGonagall smiled to herself as she watched yet another muggleborn student discover the magical world for the first time.

The poor girl was nearly breaking her neck, so fast was her head whipping about, trying to take in everything at once. After a few minutes of gaping and staring, the child's attention turned back to her, a question already on her lips. Minerva was prepared for anything. She had, after all, helped many a child prepare for their first year of Hogwarts. Questions were inevitable.  
In her career, she had heard everything from "Where is the electricity?" to "Is this a dream, Professor?" The girl was already bouncing up and down, her hair getting bushier by the second.  
"Is there a bookstore?!"  
Well, maybe not prepared for anything, after all.  
"Let's… Let's get some money, first," she replied weakly.

Damn Ravenclaws.

There was, Hermione mused, a Wizarding bank. How interesting. This could have… potential. But first, she would have to procure some more information.  
With a sugar-sweet smile, the small girl turned to Professor McGonagall, the severe-looking woman that was taking her shopping. "Professor, I am really interested in how all this works. This is such a strange bank and the money is so different. Would you mind terribly if I'd talk to Mister Ironclaw some more?"

Ironclaw, a rather mean looking goblin, had exchanged a few hundred pounds into galleons for Hermione and was now scowling at the both of them fiercely. But McGonagall was a firm believer in letting muggleborn students discover the magical world on their own terms, mostly unbiased by any wizard's preconceived opinions about politics and magical creatures, even her own. So, with her lips thinning just a fraction, she nodded her consent."Of course, I will be waiting outside. Do try and hurry."

As soon as they were alone, Hermione became serious. This was business, after all. "Mister Ironclaw, would it be possible to move this conversation someplace more quiet? I would really like to learn more about this bank and economic systems, maybe even open up an account." Ironclaw sneered at her. "My office, then."

Goblins cared little for human age as long as the human in question had sufficient funds. Hermione walked out of the bank with two new vaults, an understanding of Wizarding stock market and economy and a financial advisor.

Things were shaping up.

She would have to write a letter.

* * *

 _A/N: The plot thickens! I was on vacation and there was just no time to update. I'm sorry. There'll be a chapter in the next few days to make up for it.  
Thanks for the lovely reviews!_


	4. Introducing Marjorie

_**Introducing Marjorie**_

* * *

Marjorie Matthews reclined on her comfortable leather chair inside her penthouse office. This was the life. The investments had grown as they should, the companies had expanded and everyone was happy, most notably she and her "employer". Yes, _she_ would not be disappointed. One day, the girl that had originally funded this once small endeavor would take over and Marjorie would not fight her, would in fact happily hand over the responsibilities of playing stand-in and go-between and business owner. Then, in some years, she would retire to a nice little place in the Caribbean and spend her life traveling and losing at cards. But until then she'd enjoy the rush of working life. And if she enjoyed pulling the wool over everybody's eyes a little too much, well that was nobody's business.

Marjorie had once been Emma Grangers nee Greenings best friend. The two of them had met in High School, roomed through-out University and when Emma had, years later, met a brash man named Dan, Marjorie had naturally been their Maid of Honor. And when, years after the wedding, Dan and Emma had discovered that they would be parents after all, Marjorie was the first to know and the first to be considered as a godmother.

Years had passed since then and even though Marjorie and Emma rarely talked anymore, having had a rather big fight and subsequent bad blood between them, every year Marjorie would dutifully put fifty pounds in a letter and address it to Hermione Jean Granger for her goddaughter's birthday. And every year she would receive a lovely thank-you letter exactly one week later, increasingly long and legible as time went by. That was, until one day, exactly a week after she had sent her annual gift the money was sent back with most of Hermione's savings attached and a letter asking Marjorie to instead invest the money in a small, rather unknown startup with low stock rates.

Marjorie was, at this point in her life, single, working a minimum wage job and without much to show for her forty years on this earth. Really, she had nothing to lose.

 _(She gained everything)._

So now and then, there would be a letter in her letterbox with a crispy-white envelope, displaying her address in deceptively childish looking script and containing just a few instructions to be followed to the letter. And if the world thought that she was just making all the right steps and was quickly winning over the economy on instinct and her own genius, who was she to correct them?

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for the overwhelming response to last chapter. Here the promised new chapter, somewhat out of order with the actual timeline. OCs, I know, but bear with me. Marjorie won't show up much, I promise._


End file.
